Electrical fluid-heater.



PATENTED APR. 14, 19.08.

2 EHEETE-SHEET 1.

E. SEYMOUR E A, W. EALL. ELECTRICAL FLUID HEATEE.

AFPLIGATION FILED DEO.2,1907.

No. 884,424'. l PATENTED APR. 14. 1908.

' M. T. SEYMOUR L A. W. BALL.

ELECTRICAL FLUID HEATER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 2, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHBET Z.

Wi h1 @was Jmwn anon/nmz UNITED s'riiriis PA TENT OlllllClil.

CTRICAL FLUID-HE h 'lER Application filed December rtv o all 'ir/fom 'it may col'lcern:

lle it linown that we, Manie T. Sniiioiit and Auron W. BALL, citizens ot' the United States, and residents, respectively', of the towns of Benius Point and Stowe, in the county of Chautauqua and State of New York, have invented new and useful lin proveniente in Electrical Fluiddleaters, ot' which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is ar full, clear, and exact description;

The invention relates to devices for heating fluids by means ol electricity and the object of our improveinentis to' provide a simple and convenient tubular electric heater which produces as inucli. oiu ebullition of the fluid when placed therein, as possible,`

and toward this end the heater is left open at each end so that the lluid passes tliirough the heater, as it is heated and rises, and the cold .fluid sinks to the bot-toni, thereby producing a movement et the lluid which increases in pro ortion to the degree ol1 heat .until the Voi ing point is reached, at wh' yh point it will be recognized that thcretvill be strong ellullition ol the 'lluid as in boiling oi' lhiids.

Jur electrical heater primarily devised tor use in cleaning oil wells, :is shown in the di' wings, but it inay be used lor heating 1 funds in all inzinner of receptacles or for diil'erent purposes and not depart from our invention. .ln cleai'i'ing oil wells, as is r-:ell known, the parallins and other ingredients ol the oil el!"` tlc ciiviccs ol: the oil bearing' iortioii or the roel; and thereby slop the ilow of the well. The purpose ol heating the lluid is to inelt ilu` parnllin and guniiny substances such ns gypsuin lroin tln` walls ol the well and in order to dislodge the saine a strong ebulluion ol' llnid therein is l produced, ns above described und ns sho n in llig. l. ol' the drawings.

Oui' devil-o muy be used lo hein the oil in the well, bnl prclciuibly the oil or other fluids :ire hailed l'roin theyvell until it is clean i and a sullicient amount ol' saltwater is poured into the well strunient which is no1- n. solvent, when iieateu quickly inolts the parallln, gypsum and 'other deposits ol the oil. The melted parall'in ris-cs to thiI top ofthe salt water and Specification of Letters l? other to cover above the oil producing portion ol the rock. 'lhesahf Water heats ensilv and provides a lluid in Patented April 14, 1908.

2, i907. Serial No. 404,738.

restored.

ln the drawings, Figure l is a lengthwise sectional View ot the oil' bearing portion or shot-cavity of an oil well wit-heJ sectional View of a single forni of heater therein, the ebullition of the luid in the well being indicated. Fig. 2 isa lengthwise sectional view of a double form of heater so arranged that the current can be turned on to one-half or the whole of the heater according to the amount of heat desired, or, when used 'in an oil well so that the entire amount of heat can be turned on to raise the'iuid to the desired degree of heat, and then it can be held at that point for any desired length of time by reducing current one-half. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the heater case. Fig. 4 is a seetional view at line X X in Fig. 2 showing the spider with the cup thereon for the rod and earbons. Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective lower portion being broken away, showing the electrical connection to the dillerent parts troni the cable. Fig. (l is a detail of a short section ol: the arinored cable for sustaining tlie heater in the oil Well.

Similar nuinerels refer to corresponding i parts in the several views. l, The numeral l() indicates the tubular l casing ivhich ispret'erably niade of galvanized sheet nietal, though it may be inade of any l, lorni ol" sheet nietal provided a zine lining be plaled on the inner side, since the tubular easing l() l'nrnis one'of the poles in the heater. l 'lhc casing luis fornied with open ends so l that the fluid iiiny pass through the saine from end to end. lt should be about four int-hes and a lialll in diameter for use in the ordinary oil well, which varies in diameter l but is usually about live or six inches. ln sonic enses the casing il) may notbe entirely t sulnnergcd in the lluid, accordingly it is prel ferred io have openings il therein so that i the l'lnid can pass out through the saine under the stronglv ebullition of the lluid then raised to the boiling' point.

by ineens of u cable l2 and bail i3. The cable l. is a so called arinoret cable by ine-fins ol the n ire ,li wound around the cable, :whirh arrnngoniein loaves it lexible yet protects i'. troni eha'ling and uncovering vthe elei'lrimil wires l5 and lo' within the cable. lt also adds great strength to the cable. lt l will be appreciated that a thousand or fifthoroughly cleansed., the llow ofthe well is The casing li) is suspended in the oil Well l two spiders,

great weight weight of the teen hundred feet of cable has and there is added to this the heater.

For the simple form of single heater, shown in Fig. 1, two strands of wire 15 and 16 are sufficient. For the more complex form of double heater, shown in Fig. 2, a third wire 17 is provided and used in a manner hereinafter set forth. The bail 13 is insulated at 18 from the case 10 so that there can be no leakage of electricity from the bail to the casing.

The other in the following manner: A spider or rack 19 is provided near the lower end within the eater having suitable support 30 on the innel' side of the casing-10. rlhe spider 19 is made of porcelain or other suitable insulating material and has near its cent-er on the upper side the cup 20. A similar spider 21 is provided with supports 3() near the upper end of the casing, having a cup on its under side. In the simple form of single heater, shown in Fig. 1, a rod 22 connects the the rod having suitable nut at th'e upper end to hold the saine. Rod 22 is incased in a tubular carbon by slipping over the saine carbon tubular sections 23. lt is preferred that the carbon tubing be made in sections to give ease in handling the saine and also so that porcelainsections 24 may be inserted in place of the carbon sections when it is desired to reduce the amount of heat. Thus in Fig. 1 the top section and the fifth therefrom is a porcelain section and the remaining sections are of carbon and the surfface of tiansnnssion is reduced one third.

The cups 2O are sufficiently large to hold the ends of the carbons firmly in place both at the top and bottom.

The wires 15, 16 and 17 are preferably inf cased in porcelain tubes 25 in connecting the cable 12 with the different parts of the heater. The wire 15 from the cable connects with the casing 1U at 26 and the wire 16 connects with the upper end of the rod 22. Vt is now apparent that when the space within the tubulng point and lar casing 10 1s filled with fluid, as shown in Fig. 1, and the electrical current is turned on to the heater, the resistance of the fluid as the electricity passes from the positive carbon pole to the negative pole or casing, will quickly heat the fluid, raising it to the boilcausing its ebullition as above described.

It is ofttirnes scribed to control t the well. In order the doubleheater fared. This form referable as above deto give a larger control, shown in Fig. 2 is preoi heater is inade the saine as that' shown in Fig. 1 hereinbefore described, with the eXce tion. of a middle spider 27 which is made t e same as spiders 19 and 21 excelpt that cups 2O are placed on the upper an( under sides of the spider.

lpole of the heater is formed e amount of heat within.

The heater is made in two sections. The

heater. ln the upper section, however, a connecting tube 28 takes the place ofthe connecting rod 22, over which the sections of carbon 23 or porcelain 24 are placed. Within the tu-be 28 tubular insulation 29 is provided and the third wire 17 extends down through the tubular insulation 29 to the lower section connecting with its rod 22 and supplying it with electricity. The wirel 16 is connected te the upper end of tube 28 and supplies the upper section with its cur rent of electricity, the wire 15 connecting with the casing as in the single heater. .lt is now apparent that the electrical cur- I rcnt may be turned on one or both sections of the heater as desired and that -by the cutl ting off of one oi the electrical currents from either the wire,16 or 17, the amount of heat produced will be exactly one-half that of the tull current upon the heater. This forni of control for the electrical current in the heater' is preferred for oil wells over the use of the porcelain 24 since the full amount of heat can be utilized in quickly raising the cold fluid within the well to the desired boiling` point l and then the heat can be reduced b cutting oft' the current from one-half oil the icatcr.

W'here the exac. amount oll heat needed within the well is known and no change is desired after once placing the heater in the well, the use of the porcelains 24 for reducing the amount of heat may be utilized.

The spiders 19, 21, and 27 are preferably made removable so. that they may be packed for shipping, and also for the easy assembling of this portion of the heater. Accordingly the supports 30 for the carbons donot extend clear around the interior circumference of the. casing 10, but only a' portion of the distance, as shown in' Fig. 4, so that the lower spiders may be inserted in the spaces between the supports 30 and then by turning said supports 30.

We claim as new:

1. An electrical heater for fluids consisting of an open-ended metal tube, spiders or racks carried by said tube within the same, said spiders insulated from said tube, a connecting rod for said spiders, tubular carbon over said metal connecting rod, se arate electrical connection for said metal tu e and for said connecting rod, said metal tube being sufficiently large to allow free flow of the Huid between said tube and said carbon and rod. A

2. An electrical heater for fluids consisting of an open-ended metal tube of e ual diameter throughout, spiders or racks ot insulatin f material supported within said tube, a meta rod sections around said connecting rod, and sep connecting said spiders, tubular carbon met@ wires connected to said metal tube and `seid connecting rod, substantially as cndon the purpose specied.

3. An electrical heater for uds consisting spiders hevlng supports Within said tube, e

metal rod connecting said spiders, a tubular covcvrlng for sind. connectmg rod cons1st1ng 1n v pert of electrical conducting material und in part of non-electrical conducting material, Separate clcctncal Wires connected to said. metal tube and. scid connecting rod, seid heater having sv ece for the free' How of the 'ud through cmd metal tube.

An electicul heater for uids coneisthixg of un open-ende ul metal tube, three spiders of insulating meteyc having Suitable supports et spaced distances within Seid metal tube, n lnetelod connecting the centraf Spdc'r und, c spider et c1' new: one cud of seid tube, tubuhn carbon Section5 around seid rod, a, Inet-el scid metal connecting tube, tubular insulation Within seid metal connecting tube, en electmc Wire extendlng down through seid ytutouur nsutaticn to said connecting rod, c

second Wne' connected to said connecting tube, and e third Wie connecting sind openendedv metal tube, seid open-ended. metal tube having h'ce space for the flow of the fluid between scid carbon and scid cpm-ended metal tube.

1n tcethnony whereof we have signed oul1 naines to this specification in the plcsencc of two eubecribng witnessesv ALTUN W?. BALL. 

